Tell Me What For - Single | Arend Lee Jessurun

Tell Me What For - Single

by Arend Lee Jessurun

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Joy Frederich I love this song. It is mournfully melancholy while being playful and surprising in both lyrics and arrangement! The choral background pieces may be my favorite part.

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	1.	Tell Me What For 03:54	lyrics	buy track
	Why don’t you call anymore? Are we close at all anymore? In the long haul anymore? Tell me what for. I’ve been up walking the floor, trying my best to ignore maybe you find me a bore. Tell me what for. Did something I say make you sore? I didn’t hold open that door. This, that, or both, either, or? Tell me what for. I’m sorry if I overbore. Is it my imagining or maybe you love me no more? Tell me what for. You don’t like my posts anymore. Gone as a ghost anymore. Are we even close anymore? Tell me what for. Things were much simpler before. We had such a lovely rapport. Now you don’t seem quite as sure. Tell me what for. I’m here to listen if you’re wanting to settle the score. Come talk to me, I implore. Tell me what for. That is what friendships are for, sharing the apple and core. So open to me a bit more, and tell me what for.

about

This is the second single in “The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.

“Tell Me What For,” like the first single in the cycle “Everybody is a Fool,” is about processing (and in this case, even overthinking) a relational loss. It’s also for me an experiment in a new lyrical mode, one that is more tongue-in-cheek, inspired by John Prine.

I wrote this song during February Album Writing Month. This was one of those songs that just started flowing out as soon as I sat down with it. I had a fun time producing it, adding some Wilco-inspired wonky jazz guitar lines in the second verse. All in all, it was an experiment in fun, an embrace of my inner Holy Fool.

“That is what friendships are for,
sharing the apple and core.
So open to me a bit more,
and tell me what for.”

credits

released May 29, 2020

Written, performed, recorded, and mixed/mastered by Arend Lee Jessurun.
Artwork by Arend Lee Jessurun.

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about

Arend Lee Jessurun Los Angeles, California

Arend Lee Jessurun (they/them) is a nonbinary singer-songwriter and producer writing sincere, sometimes psychedelic, chamber folk. Their music explores the genderqueer experience and Christian faith through a hopeful lens. Arend's pure singing voice, nimble guitar arrangements, and poetic sensibility have earned them comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel, Iron & Wine, and Nick Drake. ... more

arendleejessurun.com

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